SOS
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U2 - Songs Of Surrender (2023)
 Tracks: 40
  1. Originally posted by johnetnaicsurf:Oh my goodness...what should I say ?

    I have listened to all the songs from SOS (90 seconds from every song - Apple Music). This is just bad and boring...it must be a joke !!! I am a fan since 1987, was on 93 U2 shows, I have spent so much money in travelling to see U2 live and collecting bootlegs, videos and merchandise. I am lucky to say, that I met U2 in their studio in Dublin in 1999...a great memory.

    But today is a very sad day for me. Bono´s voice is gone, the arrangements are ridiculous (sometimes it sounds like a cheap plastic keyboard in the background), what have they done with these songs ? "Desire"...just a joke...is´nt it ? "Bad" (Bad is a century-masterpiece especially live) but here...no words !!! The Fly...a beginners cover band ? Every Song is crap imo...

    Everyone who wants can listen to it, can love it, can like it, can buy it, that is ok for me...but my journey ends here and today. I am just speechless, yes maybe I am old and not modern enough, but this can not be serious.

    I respect all other opinions and I will be fine with this, this one here is just my personal view.

    Warm greetings from Germany
    Do you work for the NME sounds like the sort of thing they'd write, what's the point in going into the studio and doing similar versions of the originals that's just completely lazy and pointless, at least they are giving the songs a new twist it might not always work but it's interesting to hear them even if they aren't as good as the original songs.
  2. I've already listened to SOS in its entirety.

    In general I like it quite a bit more than I expected: once you get into the mood and ditch the preconceived idea of "I'm listening to U2's new album" it all becomes a bit more enjoyable. I feel they could have gone a bit further with many of these versions, as some of them are basically busker renditions with a non-existent amount of reimagination - but some others are really surprising and catch you off guard. It's also very refreshing to see Edge taking the creative lead and sing this much.

    On the other hand, it's way too obvious that it's recorded in the distance and especially without the guidance of a producer or an engineer present to tell them "this take is good, this take is bad, here you joined in late, here you've sung badly, this is good to go, this can be improved"... The amount of times I've heard Bono join off beat is astonishing 🥲🤦🏻‍♂️ And it doesn't really sound that good, does it? There's quite a lot of noise in many of the tracks, poor edits and copy/pastes, etc.

    My top5 at the moment (and I don't think it will change) is:

    Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
    Lights Of Home
    Two Hearts Beat As One
    All I Want Is You
    Dirty Day

    So, summarizing: is this album "destroying U2's legacy!" like some proclaim? No, it's not. Is this album anything else than a distraction until the band comes back with new original music? No, it's not either. Is the insane amount of promo and different versions put on sale justifiable for this release? No, it's definitely not. SOS is just a pastime, not more than that. They should have published it along with Bono's book for the whole project to have more sense. As it is now, it's a disconnected effort, a disjointed piece of work. But a nice pastime.
  3. Just working through it now. My overarching thought so far if why the hell would they crack on with a project that plays to all of Bono's weaknesses as a vocalist?
  5. Maybe they’re doing what they always have done; i.e. making a virtue of their limitations and embracing those “weaknesses”.
  6. Originally posted by popmarter:[..]
    Do you work for the NME sounds like the sort of thing they'd write, what's the point in going into the studio and doing similar versions of the originals that's just completely lazy and pointless, at least they are giving the songs a new twist it might not always work but it's interesting to hear them even if they aren't as good as the original songs.
    If it were an NME article, it would’ve had at least one item of Gallagher Bros ass kissing.
  7. Per the tracking info my copy won't arrive until Monday. WTF.
  8. is another wave of variants due or are we done now ?
  9. My Amazon order says Tuesday. Will cancel and buy elsewhere if not here tomorrow.
  10. The bands argument is that it is supposed to be a fun project, but with the amount of promotion and colored vinyls they’re releasing, it doesn’t feel like “just a fun project”, it comes across as a serious release. Had they just released it on iTunes with the book, I wouldn’t be so hard on this. But they really think these versions are great and are already planning to replace original versions live with these.
  11. Originally posted by Timk68:my concern is they start using some of these SOS versions in live settings instead of the originals. Thats how far the plot has been lost

    From LA Times:
    Which versions of these songs will you be playing later this year at your Las Vegas residency?
    Edge: Probably a combination. It’s going to be a rock ‘n’ roll show, for sure, and we’ll probably dip into these interpretations for part of it.
  12. I have now listened to Songs of Surrender.

    It really isn't as bad as people are making out.